1. PREVIOUS [only before noun] done, used, or experienced before now: Judging by her past performance, Jane should do very well. From past experience she knew that it was no use arguing with him. Study some past exam papers to get an idea of the questions.

2. RECENT [only before noun] used to refer to a period up until now: the events of the past year During the past two weeks, 12 people have died of the disease. She has been feeling tired for the past few days.

3. FINISHED finished or having come to an end: Winter is past and spring has come at last. writers from past centuries a tradition rooted in times long past

4. FORMER [only before noun] having held a particular position in the past or achieved a particular honour in the pastpast president/member/winner etc a past president of the golf club a celebration for past and present employees of the newspaper Bruce Jenner, a past Olympic champion

1. later than a particular time: It’s ten past nine. I should be finished by half past (=30 minutes after the hour). It was past midnight when the party ended. Come on Annie, it’s long past your bedtime.

2. further than a particular place: The hospital’s just up this road, about a mile past the school. There are parking spaces over there, just past (=a little further than) the garage.

3. up to and beyond a person or place, without stopping: She waved as she drove past. Will you be going past my house on your way home?straight/right past (=used to emphasize that someone passes close to you and does not stop) Monica hurried straight past me and down the steps.

4. if a period of time goes past, it passes: Weeks went past without any news. The hours seemed to fly past.

5. beyond or no longer at a particular point or stage: The roses were already past their best. Reid never really got past the stage of copying other artists. a pot of yoghurt well past its sell-by date an Italian singer who was then past her prime (=no longer strong and active)I’m past caring about my appearance (=I do not care about it any more).

6. I wouldn’t put it past somebody (to do something) spoken used to say that you would not be surprised if someone did something bad or unusual because it is typical of them to do that type of thing: I wouldn’t put it past Colin to cheat.

7. past it British English spoken too old to be able to do what you used to do, or too old to be useful: People seem to think that just because I’m retired, I’m past it.

8. be past due American English something that is past due has not been paid or done by the time it should have been

1. the pasta) the time that existed before the presentin the pastThe lake was smaller in the past.Good manners have become a thing of the past (=something that does not exist any more).It’s time she stopped living in the past (=thinking only about the past) and began to think about her future.the recent/immediate/distant pastShe allowed her mind to drift towards the recent past.I did a law degree some time in the dim and distant past (=a long time ago).b) the past tense

2. all in the past spoken used to say that an unpleasant experience has ended and can be forgotten: You mustn’t think about it. It’s all in the past now.

3. [singular] the past life or existence of someone or something: At some time in its past the church was rebuilt. The woman who ran the bar had a very shady past (=events in her past which might be considered bad).

past nounI. time before the present ADJ. immediate, recent | ancient, (dim and) distant, remote Many modern festivals can be traced back to an ancient past. It all happened in the distant past. VERB + PAST cling to, live in We're going to have to stop living in the past and invest in new technology if the firm is to survive. belong in/to Those memories belong to the past and I don't want to think about them. PREP. from the ~ Memories from the past came flooding back to him. in the ~ I admit that I have made mistakes in the past. into the ~ events stretching back many years into the past of the ~ great artists of the past PHRASES be all in the past Don't worry about it?it's all in the past now. a break with the past In an effort to make a complete break with the past, she sold everything and went abroad. a glimpse of the past The uncovering of the buried town gives us a unique glimpse of the past. a link with the past The old market is a living link with the past, unchanged for hundreds of years. nostalgia for the past, a thing of the past a new device that makes such problems a thing of the past

the recent pastThe optimistic economic climate of the recent past has gone.the distant/remote pastRivers of molten lava clearly flowed here in the distant past.the immediate past (=the very recent past)In order to understand the present, we must look at the immediate past.forget the pastForget the past and focus on the future.be living in the past (=think only about the past)You’ve got to stop living in the past.be/become a thing of the past (=not exist any more, or stop existing)We hope that smoking will become a thing of the past.a break with the past (=when something is done in a completely different way to how it was done in the past)These policies are a break with the past.in the dim and distant past (=a very long time ago)I think she sang Ireland's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest sometime in the dim and distant past.

pastpreposition1. BAD: I was 8 years old when my father past away. GOOD: I was 8 years old when my father passed away. BAD: Several taxis past me without stopping. GOOD: Several taxis passed me without stopping.

Usage Note:The past tense and past participle of the verb pass is passed (NOT past): 'She's passed all her exams.' 'I passed him in the corridor but he didn't say anything.''These remedies have been passed down from one generation to the next.' Past is (1) an adjective: 'For the past week he's been ill in bed.' (2) a preposition: 'She walked past me very quickly.' (3) an adverb: 'She walked past very quickly.' (4) a noun: 'He never speaks about his past.' Past is NOT used as a verb. 2. BAD: It was a little past five when the game finished. GOOD: It was just after five when the game finished.